Recipe: Compost Cookies

by Cate on April 29, 2009

I debated writing about another “sweet” recipe today. We certainly have had a few good ones recently, like the Malted Milk Ball Cupcakes, which were quickly followed by the Malted Milk Ball Cookies, but we’ve also had some great vegetable and otherwise savory recipes recently too (see the amazingly easy but uber-delicious broccoli for example). So I decided, what the heck, right? I’m not going anywhere. You’re not going anywhere. There’s plenty of time for vegetables.

Compost Cookies. They’re a funny little cookie. Made famous as the brainchild of Momofuku‘s pastry chef Christina Tosi, their list of ingredients is just as unique as the name of the cookie. Pretzel pieces, chocolate, oats, coffee grinds, potato chips … it’s enough to make you wrinkle up your nose and turn tail. They sell the cookies for $1.75 each and they’ve been getting mixed reviews so far (see here, here, here and oh here too!).

I’ve seen the cookies mentioned in a few food magazines recently, but haven’t seen the original recipe yet. I did, however, find a semi-copycat version from the Oatmeal CookieBlog, and that’s the recipe I made. From what I’ve heard and seen, the original is a thinner version, and this version has a few swap-outs that may change the overall taste in comparison. I haven’t had the original, so can’t tell you if it’s better, or if this one is.

So was the cookie a hit? At first bite, it’s not an OMG. But then you get a bite of a piece of salty pretzel, or maybe even a Frito, and you’re thinking, “wait a minute, this isn’t half bad.” I think this is one of those cookie recipes to make once, enjoy and cross off your list. Next!

Compost CookiesRecipe courtesy of Oatmeal CookieBlog

Creamables

1 1/2 sticks butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons dry, used coffee grounds (I used instant Espresso)

Wet Ingredients

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

Dry Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup flour

3/4 cup roughly crushed potato chips

1/2 cup roughly crushed pretzels

1/2 cup roughly crushed Fritos

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350º.

In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.

In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.

Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.

In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.

Magda – just lucky I guess. ;) I wasn’t there where everyone tried them, but they’re not bad. It’s the kind that tends to grow on you … not spectacular at first bite, but then hours later you’re thinking about them and all the sudden, you want another one.

Wendy – no problem!

Dawn – a perfect vehicle to mix the salty and sweet and satisfy all the taste buds in one fell swoop.

Joanne – I promise, you just taste a twinge of salt, not a screaming Frito. She’s doing better today, thank you for asking!

Hi
I have made Christina Tosi’s Compost cookies. They are a Huge hit! I change the ingredients to my liking. Thats the whole point is to customize what you have in the cabinet. If anyone wants to try them again I used Heath bar Toffee bits,Chocolate Morsels,Goldfish Pretzels and chopped Cranberry pieces.
I use a medium sized cookie scoop and its the perfect plump cookie size.
Another cookie try was Chocolate morsels,Heath bar Toffee bits,Crumbled whole wheat ritz crakers, Baby size Chedder goldfish and Dark Chocolate Raisinettes.
Happy baking :-)

Oh i forgot I also used Cocoa Krispies in the cranberry version and regular Rice krispies in the other one.
I loved the taste of the cocoa krispies and the cranberry mix. I also suggest not to use the whole bag of the Toffee bits i would only use 1 cup rather than the 1 1\2 cups.